The first day of September was gloriously sunny and warm in the way that only our late summer days can be. In preparation for just such a day I had done a bit of research into other nature reserves that may be nearby and was surprised to discover there is indeed such a one, almost on our doorstep on another landmark hill just beyond Bryn Euryn, called Bryn Pydew. The land is leased and managed by the North Wales Wildlife Trust (NWWT), and just had to be explored not only because of its proximity, but also because it has within in it an area of Limestone Pavement that I have been keen to add to my round of habitats to visit.

I could hardly believe it was so close by and I had never heard of it, but when I set off to find it, following the directions on the website, I did have some problems finding the ‘entrance’ to the reserve. (I must get myself an ordnance survey map and re-learn to use grid references !) I knew I was on the Bryn, it’s huge, so hard to miss, and drove up, down around and along a few lanes in the indicated direction, then through the village of Bryn Pydew and back again, finally stopping to ask for directions from a lady carrying a basket heading for the village hall. She didn’t really know either, but suggested it might be the “flat bit further on where they have been digging”. It was clear that there was little room for parking on the lane, so I asked if I should park outside the hall and walk, she said “Oh no, please don’t, we have a fun Dog Show here this afternoon, so we need all the parking space we have for that.” Not wishing to upset anyone or their dog, I drove a bit further and duly came to said ‘flat bit’ at the side of the lane, pulled onto it and got out of the car.

Woodland edge

It seemed likely that the reserve was in the general area as I was now looking at woodland to one side on the lower slope of the hill, then across the lane, a grassy slope with some scrubby vegetation leading to the summit of the Bryn. Next to where I had parked there was a mound of earth and stones, becoming vegetated with grass, with the addition of clumps of vervain, verbascum and other wild plants, which made me think this may have been a bit of a dumping ground for the village gardeners. Behind this ‘tump’ there was a ‘path’ cobbled with small pieces of limestone between it and the woodland edge, bordered on either side with wildflowers, predominantly ragwort, but also marsh hemp, cat’s ear, traveller’s joy (wild clematis), hogweed etc.

A beautiful fresh ‘Sun Fly’, also known as ‘The Footballer’ – Helophilus pendulus

The sheltered spot was buzzing with hoverflies, bees and bumblebees and even a few butterflies. Most of the hoverflies were of the larger eristalis species, some of which I have already featured photographs of in recent posts, but there were others too.

Eristalis interruptus on ragwort

Eristalis on Hemp Agrimony

The most familiar of hoverflies, the exquisite little Marmalade Fly – Episyrphus balteatus

I was also an attractive hoverfly, Leucozona lucorum, which is a new one for my collection of photographs.

Leucozona lucorum. There is a similar-looking insect – Volucella pellucens which is much shinier and does not have the orange-yellow scutellum (the triangular patch at the base of the thorax)

I was really pleased to find Ploughman’s Spikenard growing here. It is a plant quite unprepossessing in its appearance, looking a bit like a giant groundsel or ragwort that is going to seed, so may be easily overlooked, but it is another of my favourite type of plant, one with a history of traditional use as a medicinal herb and that has some great alternative common names; Cinnamon-root, Great Fleabane, Horseheal and Lady’s-gloves.

Ploughman’s Spikenard – Inula Conyza (the seeds on the leaves are from nearby thistles)

Honeybee on Ploughman’s Spikenard

It was really peaceful here, so I sat down on the ground for a while to enjoy the sunshine and properly take notice of what was around me. I love to do that sometimes, to just sit still and lose myself in the moment, and feel connected to the real world. Stillness often brings other rewards too, things I may have missed if I’d been standing and wandering around. A dragonfly came to settle close by on the warm stones, as did a grasshopper and there were birds about too, a Robin came out of the woods to hop around close by and so did a Dunnock.

Common Darter Dragonfly- Sympetrum striolatum (immature male)

Common Green Grasshopper-Omocestus viridulus

A fresh-plumaged Dunnock spied through tall grass

Into the woods

Still not sure of where I was I decided to walk towards the woods to see if there may be a track I could walk on. Lo and behold as I walked towards the trees, set just inside the edge of the woodland was the information board for the reserve. It looks quite faded so has clearly been there for some years, so maybe it was originally more visible from the lane?

Information board about the Bryn Pydew Reserve- click to enlarge

There is a track, way-marked with red marks on some of the tree trunks.

Woodland trail, Bryn Pydew

The trees, mostly silver birch, as, some oak, sycamore and unusually a good many yew grow closely together, so it was quite dark and shady in there with occasional shafts of sunlight breaking through the leaf canopy. Most of the sycamore leaves I could see were sprinkled wit large black spots, the result of an infection of Tar Spot fungus.

Tar spot is a fungal disease characterised by raised, black spots on leaves, caused by the fungus Rhytisma acerinum. The tar-like spot is a fruiting structure of the fungus that survives the winter on fallen leaves. In the spring mature spores of the fungus, which have a sticky coating, are released and blown by wind to newly emerging leaves.

The undersides of the leaves appear cupped directly beneath the tar spots. This is a much-enlarged image of a tiny snail and another minute insect.

In a clearing in the woodland where there was a little more light I photographed Hart’s Tongue fern growing amongst ivy on an old stone wall and Lady Fern.

Hart’s Tongue Fern and ivy on an old stone wall

Lady Fern

On the other side of the wall where shrubby plants have colonised the clearing I watched five Speckled Wood butterflies chase one another around in the sun-dapples space. These are very territorial little butterflies that will tackle anything that tries to invade its territory; today each time one settled on a leaf to bask it was dive-bombed by another, so it took a while to get an image. It was good watching them though, this is the most I have seen together in one place for a long while and judging by their fresh appearance, I would say they were newly-emerged.

“A fool sees not the same tree that a wise man sees.”
– William Blake –

I had headed up to the Pwllycrochan woods on Saturday in the hope of discovering some fungi to photograph. What I know about fungi in general could be written on the top of a toadstool, but my interest was sparked last November on a brilliant outing organised for us in a cork oak forest near where I live when in Spain.

The leaves of a horsechestnut trees, already well on the way to turning colour

Arriving in the late afternoon and on warm sunny day too, I was a little doubtful there would be anything to find, especially as I had no idea what I was looking for. A notice attached to the information board referring to the meeting point for a ‘fungi foraging group’ held earlier on, gave me hope that there would be something to discover, but I had no idea what or where. I wished I’d known about the organised event; I’d have joined it, if only to learn the identity of a few different species.

24/9/11-Fallen leaves of sweet chestnut and beech

I walked for a while, just enjoying the atmosphere of the woodland, breathing in the scents of damp earth and gently decaying leaves. It was very peaceful here with few sounds disturbing the quietness; the faint trickling of a stream, a few fluting notes from a Robin, the scolding of a Blackbird. The loudest sounds were made by Wood Pigeons crashing around high in the treetops. They are doing that a lot lately, perhaps it’s something to do with staking territory or mating.

Beech leaves turning colour

I took one of the uphill trails through the trees until I reached the cleared area around the enormous beech tree. Lengths of felled tree trunks have been set around here as seating, or left stacked to provide habitat for the many species of fauna and flora that require the unique conditions provided by decaying timber, and lo and behold, here were fungi.

24/9/11-A group of toadstools growing on a fallen log

Mycology is the study of fungi. At various points throughout history, fungi have been considered to be either plants or animals. It was finally concluded that fungi are neither plants nor animals, but are a distinct group. Fungi are now considered one of the five kingdoms into which all living organisms are classified.

24/9/11-A layered cluster of flat round toadstools

24/9/11-Sulphur tuft - Hypholoma fasciculari (I think)

Fungi are strange and fascinating entities and it’s not hard to understand why they feature strongly in the folklore of many countries, where they are often regarded as signs of magic, or even evil at work. Much of the myth was prompted by the sudden overnight appearance and rapid rate of growth of many species of fungus: lightning strikes, meteorites, shooting stars, earthly vapours, and witches have all been proposed as agents of their origin. Add to that the weird and wonderful shapes and even colours that many of the fruiting bodies present, and it does not take too much imagination to see how their presence could be interpreted as the work of other-worldly forces.

24/9/11-Half-eaten toadstools. Fungi are often an addition to the diets of mice and slugs

What is the difference between a mushroom and a toadstool? For an answer, have a look at this page on the BBC site where it says “There is no scientific difference between a mushroom and a toadstool; an edible fungus is usually referred to as a mushroom, whereas an inedible one is usually referred to as a toadstool. As with so many aspects of the study of these amazing organisms, however, even this is not always the case.”

Bracket fungi

Bracket Fungi are so called simply because they look like shelves growing out of the sides of trees; they are polypores and tend to have very tough, leathery or woody fruiting bodies. They are often plate-like and most grow out of tree trunks or rotting wood, although some may grow on soil.

Bracket fungus-Oxyporus populinus (?)

Bracket fungus -Inonotus cuticularis

A turkey-tail bracket fungus on a felled oak log

24/9/11-A scaly fungal growth

Southern Bracket-Ganoderma australe

I found this enormous fungus on my way back down the hill. I saw a large section of a tree trunk lying on the ground a short way from the path; a quick glance showed nothing growing on the side and end I could see easily and I almost passed by, but something in my mind suggested having a look at the sides I couldn’t see. I negotiated brambles and a steep slope to get there, but it was worth the effort as I immediately saw that nestled inside a large split in the log was this huge specimen of a bracket fungus. I’d never seen anything like it before and for its sheer size and presence I have to make it the star of today’s show.

Southern Bracket, front view

I am naming it as a Southern Bracket as that is more commonly occurring than a similar species, which is Artist’s Bracket –Ganoderma applanatum.

Bryn Euryn’s woodland is home to a good number of native species of trees, including Ash, Beech, Silver Birch and Sessile Oak. There are also many large Sycamore trees, which although well-recognised and widespread in Britain are the true natives of woodlands of Central Europe.

11/8/11-Steps wind uphill through the trees

Amongst the large trees are sprinklings of native shrubs or smaller trees of Holly and the occasional Yew, with Hawthorns on the woodland edges.

11/8/11-European Holly -Ilex aquifolium

Ivy is another plant that is so widespread and commonly occurring that I was quite surprised to find it is not a native plant in Northern Europe, but hails from western, central and southern Europe.

11/8/11-Ivy-Hedera helix

11/8/11- An impressive Silver Birch -Betula pendula

11/8/11-Moss growing on the trunk of a silver birch tree

The cool shady and damp woodlands provide perfect habitat for various species of ferns, mosses and lichens too.

“Wales only occupies about 10 per cent of the land area of the British Isles but it has an extraordinary diversity of lower plants and fungi including 75 per cent of the mosses and liverworts, 74 per cent of the lichens and 80 per cent of the rust fungi. This diversity is probably thanks to Wales having such a broad range of relatively un-disturbed habitats and a small population”

I love coming across little ‘scenes’ such as the one below, where moss partially clothes a craggy rock which also supports a blue-green lichen and is surrounded by dried leaves and twigs. So many textures shades of colours in a very small area of the woodland floor, and doubtless many insects and micro-organisms are there too.

11/8/11-A mossy rock in a bed of dry leaves

11/8/11- Male Fern-Dryopteris filix-mas

In open spots on the woodland edge there are brambles, flowering at the moment and attracting lots of little hoverflies.

The bright yellow Mustard Powder lichen or Gold Dust lichen–Chrysothrix candelaris commonly grows on tree bark. It is widespread and common in the United Kingdom, being found on the bark of deciduous trees, especially rugged old specimens, such as sycamore, alder, oak, willow, beech, and Pinus species, normally in dry shaded parts.

11/8/11-Turkey- tail fungus - Tramates versicolor

I came across the ‘Turkey-tail’ fungus on a path around the summit of the hill and thought it was fascinating. It takes its common name from the way in which the patterning and the cup or spoon shaped fungus resembles, well, the shape and patterning a turkey’s tail. It is a common bracket fungus which grows on the sides of logs or trees and occurs in a variety of colours including brown, tan, orange, white, red or purple, sometimes all together (Versicolor means ‘of several colours’). Turkey Tails are not poisonous to people but they are not eaten either.